Victor felt the strong winds blow past him. The Hargeon beach, it made him happy to be back home at the guild. After traveling around here and there for a week, he was finally in Hargeon again. He had learned quite a lot on his travels, experienced quite a lot as well. The roaring waves crashing into the sandy beach always made him calm down. He was going to have another adventure soon. But for a couple of days, he was determined to enjoy his time in Hargeon.

He had earlier that day received a letter from Reign, the young noble that he had once helped with the construction works at the docks. He, after learning that he was back in town again, contacted him, asking if he could take care of his little niece that he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on for a day because of work. While the letter mentioned that she might be a little hard to handle, Victor wondered how difficult a child can be.

He shouldn’t have jinxed it.

Victor stared back at the blue wide eyed, puffy cheeked child with blonde wavy hair. She looked unhappy, a reaction that Victor had not seen so much on a girl that laid their eyes on him. She snubbed him at every chance that he tried to take to greet her, turning her head sharply away from Victor even when he played his princely smile part. She looked stubborn with a one track mind. Her mind had already placed Reign san at the top of her favorite peoples list and she didn’t seem like she wanted to change anything.

“I want my uncle!” she screamed, making Victor flinch a little. He was not used to taking care of such…such mysteries. Pushing back his initial irritation, he tried to reason with the child. He was getting paid for this. He needed to do this right, after all. “Ehh, it’s because Sophi chan’s beloved uncle has a lot of work to do. Big brother will keep you company today,” he told her, trying to get her to at least look at him. She did, but with an evil gleam on her eyes.

“Will you do anything for Sophi chan?” she asked, her voice suddenly going from shrill to forced cutesy. He understood forced cutesy! He used to do it all the time. What was this evil child going to do to him now?

407/1400

Phoebe hadn't thought about doing a job lately. She had thought that it would be better to head home but the jewels were nice if she needed a way to get to her house. She thought about it and had headed into town to bump into a man that looked really lost. Now Phoebe didn't know much about Hargeon yet but she how to get by and get to places if she wanted to, however this man didn't look like he was a tourist. He seemed to stare at the beach the whole time but didn't seem to reach it.

"Hello," she said as she walked to the man that looked really lost, she thought it was just her mind but he stood in front of a house and stared at the beach, as if someone needed to push him. Normally she didn't like talking to strangers but she simply noticed an opportunity, the man looked at her and greeted her back, "Is anything alright?" Phoebe asked in her best manner and the man shook his head before he nodded, "I wouldn't want to bother a young lady like you." the man said which made her aware that there was something to do for a job, and she simply batted her eyelashes at him. "You see my cousin, she is a little ill but I can't take care of her today. I found a mage to help her to enjoy her day at the beach. I'm just a bit afraid you see, a young man, would he know what a young girl wants?" Oh someone had already taken this job, "Perhaps, you could go along if you want." Or no there was still something to do. She answered his quest with a lovely smile and he told her where they were. A bit more accepting the idea, he headed back inside and Phoebe headed towards the shore.

It was easy to spot a young man with a small child, she looked angry and she simply raised her eyebrow as she walked that way, taking off her heels to make it easier in the sand. "Hi, you must be Sophi chan." she said and she turned to the handsome guy, "Reign Valystasia was a bit worried so he send me along. I hope you don't mind. Please tell me if you do, I don't want to bother you." But.. actually she did want the jewels. She tried to be as lovely as possible, "Get me seashells!" Sophi said as she pointed to the seashore. Phoebe stared at her in surprise, oh damn this kid was going to be a lot to handle if this was already how she spoke to young adults like them. "I could of course help you with that." she muttered a bit because well even if she wasn't shy, she wouldn't want anyone to take over her job, so she would hold back a bit until he would tell her if it was alright. She was sure this child was more spoiled than Mary.

Victor’s ears perked up at the sound of a woman behind her. “Oh? No, of course I don’t mind,” he smiled. In all honesty, with the situation he was in, he could take all the help he could get. “Be my guest,” he moved away so that the girl could talk with Sophi. The child didn’t seem like she was having any of it though. She took a quick look at both Victor and the girl that just joined them and practically screamed at them to get her some seashells. How many seashells did she even want?

Victor looked a bit confused as the girl went in search of seashells. Was it happening for real? “Get me Seashellllsss!” the child cried again, this time making Victor turn around and look for the damn seashells. What was a child even going to do with seashells? Plus, wasn’t it supposed to be a child’s pleasure to go look for them themselves?

He sighed, walking over to where the girl was and started looking for seashells with her. “Hey, I’m Victor. Nice to meet you. I didn’t know someone would be joining me or I would have waited,” he told her, fingers drifting through the sand to find the shiny pieces of seashells.

From afar, Sophi looked at the two of them out of curiosity. Honestly, she had not been expecting them to go ahead and do what she asked of them to do. It surprised her that they were so willing to go through with his wishes. But despite it all, she wasn’t truly convinced either. She will have to test them further to understand that.

Victor, on the other hand, was still going through the sandy beach to pick out seashells. He ignored the broken ones, going for the more beautiful complete ones like a true Blue Pegasus member, his pink bangs falling over his eyes with the wind picking up in speed. It wasn’t anything alarming, but just slightly more breezy.

738/1400

Maybe Phoebe was a little bit surprised that she so easily could join this job but she gave him a smile and turned to Sophi to talk a little. She didn't get much of a reaction and simply tried to but got more of a pained expression on this face because this spoiled little brat was a piece of there were no words. She was young, that was obvious, but she could always take care of Mary her spoiled whims when she was a child, this one seemed to be of a whole other level. And that's when she yelled for some seashells. So Phoebe made her way to the seashore and went to find something, puckering about the dirty and sticky sand between her toes as she had dropped her high heels next to Sophi, it wouldn't matter if she walked with them afterall.

She looked up to the pretty young man and she couldn't help but blush, she pushed the hair out of her face and her ear as she smiled at him, "Oh yeah well he was worried, I think he didn't plan to send anyone else at first. I'm Phoebe, it is very nice to meet you." she turned to look at Sophi to make sure the child was alright on her own a bit away from them. She was apparently expecting her shoes at some point and she went on to find some seashells herself, just like her partner in this quest, she was only trying to find the prettiest, because that contained beauty and it was probably a young girl wanted. Shiny pink and white seashells with no broken sides or whatsoever.

She couldn't held much more in her left hand until she heard another cry from the child and she quickly looked up with big surprised eyes as nothing seemed wrong, "It's too warm!" Oh well it wasn't but fire mages couldn't really say that. She walked back to the child and placed the seashells carefully next to her. She had a good point though, it was warm weather, she had blonde hair and the sun was hot. She looked back to see where Victor was, "It's a best idea to make some shade. We don't want her to get a sunstroke." She had only no idea how to create shade on a beach with no trees or anything, that's when she noticed a rental place, "Maybe we could get some there. Let me try." So she headed as quickly as she could towards the rental place for a parasol and made sure Sophi had her shade. She made sure to check how warm her little head was, which she didn't like to make sure that they had not made that mistake by looking for seashells first, which she didn't even seem to check.

"I want to see the forest." the little girl pointed towards the other side of the beach, "I want to see flowers!" she couldn't have said that before she got the parasol! The little snob.

So Reign had been worried about him taking care of his little niece all alone. Well, he couldn’t say that he disagreed with the young noble. It was probably true. Victor was someone who got spoiled from the moment he was born. He didn’t know how to do the spoiling. “Ah, so that’s how it was,” he chuckled good naturedly and went off to pick up all the seashells himself. Fitting a bunch of them in his big hands, he walked back only to hear the little thing complain about the weather.

Now what was she complaining for? She sat there like a little princess while they went around the whole beach for seashells. He felt a little annoyed but controlled it, reminding himself again and again that it was a child he was dealing with and not a fully grown adult. He approached Sophi and handed over the seashells just like girl had. He looked up as she thoughtfully went up to a rental place to get a parasol, meanwhile using his own hands and towering height to create some shade for the little blonde princess.

He took the parasol off the girl’s hand, opening and putting it down, using force to push it further into the sand to make sure that it would stand still. But the next request he heard made him want to scold the girl very badly. They had just managed to get something to save her from the sun and now she wanted to go to a forest?

He sighed but shrugged. “Well, if that’s what you want, my princess,” he said, bowing down to grab the child’s hand and place a soft kiss at the back of it. He helped her up afterwards, gesturing the black haired beauty to follow him as he led them towards the forest, about fifteen minutes of walk from where they were.

Once they reached the forest, Sophi raised her demands for colorful flowers again. “Aye Aye,” he would say, going in search for the flowers that Sophi had become so stubborn about. What did guys like him even know about pretty flowers, though? He just walked around a bit, picking up whatever flower he thought would do. Coming back, he was alarmed to find that Sophi wasn’t where he had left her. “Sophi!?”

1127/1400

Phoebe would want to shake the little girl about being too spoiled and that it never worked and that she would get paid back by life because that is simply how it worked but it wasn't fair. She was but a child and raising her was also a part of why she was so spoiled right now. Phoebe decided nothing to say about it but she was glad for herself that she wasn't alone, maybe Victor thought the same. She was also glad he would be able to handle the parasol, she would sure as hell get hurt if she would try that. She stared at him a bit too much and quickly noticed it and blinked a few times and looked at the little girl.

But that wasn't much helping as she demanded to go to the forest and Victor treated her like a princess. Pff, Phoebe should be the princess in this case, that child was.. she corrected herself a child. She couldn't believe that she was jealous of a spoiled six year old. So she quickly plastered a happy smile on her face and tried to look as charming as she could. She would follow them and hurried first to the rental spot to tell them that they were coming back but the girl wanted to see the forest, so they didn't think she just abanddoned the parasol five mintues later. She quickly catched up with Sophi and Victor after that. She stood next to the girl as she demanded flowers as she wanted to keep an eye on her but the little princess demanded her to get some more too, fine! "Of course." and she followed suit to get some. She was so caught up in her own thoughts and picking up flowers that she didn't notice Sophi leaving. She looked up and turned to face where she had left Sophi when she heard Victor call for her, "Sophi?" She said a little in panic because she was still but a child, "She was here just a while ago." oh how could she be so stupid. She dropped the flowers and looked left and right, "Sophi, come out, come out wherever you are." she tried to say to not sound so panicky and just hope the child was playing, even though she didn't seem to be a child that would do that. She looked at the beach but there was not a small girl alone nor did the beach show any footprints going back yet, not the small ones from Sophi at least. How could they have lost her, "She must be in the forest!" she took a deep breath to calm down and not put the whole forest on fire as she noticed a small flame on her hand that she quickly dried out by petting her leg, her own magic couldn't hurt her in that way thank god. But they would have to do something so she made sure her heels were strepped on fine and she took a few steps in the forest, this was a disaster.

Victor was a little terrified. How did they manage to lose a child just like that? “Sophi!” he tried calling out for her again, going around the place he last saw her. He was slightly panicking, looking for the child now that he almost didn’t hear Phoebe and definitely didn’t see the spark of flame she produced. Instead, he took Phoebe’s hands and walked further into the forest.

“You’re right. There is no way she could go anywhere except inside the forest. Be careful and stay beside me now. I don’t want to see anyone else go lost,” he told her as he guided her deeper into the forest, sweeping back some flimsy branches and large leaves out of the way so that he could see the path clearly.

They walked around the forest for a while, Victor’s eyes focusing all around him to find even a small strand of blonde hair. He searched for Sophi frantically, calling out his name at every chance he got and at the top of his voice. He only got more fidgety when night started to settle in and darkness slowly creeped up around them. He made sure to keep a grip on Phoebe now.

Victor only stopped when he heard something resembling a snivel. He looked back at Phoebe first to see if she was crying but seeing that it might not be the case, he followed the sound, lifting a large leaf in his way over his head to find a balled up Sophi, crying all alone.

He sighed. “Sophi,” he called out, immediately scooping the little crying girl up. She seemed to cry harder once she got to his hands and he patted her back, trying to stop the girl from crying. “It’s ok. Let’s just go back home now,” he would say and walk back to Sophi’s home, his hands still protectively around her unless Phoebe takes her from him. Once he dropped her off at the castle, he would tell her to take care of herself. “I’m sorry,” she slowly muttered and then looked up with a red face. “Bent down!” Oh boy, here we go again, Victor thought but chuckled and bent down anyway, jumping up a little in surprise when the child landed a small kiss on his cheek.

They would soon say goodbye to Sophi and Reign before collecting their rewards and leaving.

1521/1400 (30% WC reduction through class and guild)

"Sophi!" she called out too but it was a dark forest, lots of trees close together that she couldn't see anything not even one tiny blonde curl. She looked up surprised when Victor caught her hand because she wasn't paying attention to him at the moment and she hated how she blushed, as she had to focus on something else. Sophi was missing! Get focused Phoebe! She thought about herself but it was better to not lose each other as well, so it was probably only because of that and she nodded towards herself. She followed him because she had to and because it was smart to search for her together. Whenever she could she would call out Sophi her name but she also tried to listen in the hope to find the small child. How could she be so stupid.

When it turned dark, Phoebe lifted up her hand to create a little fire orb that would function as a torch to help them search. She would stumble into Victor as he suddenly stopped and she had not noticed that and looked at him, she hadn't heard it at first but now she noticed, it sounded like somebody was crying, oh please let it be Sophi, she thought by herself because the poor child would possibly be very scared. She let go of her breath in relieve when it was Sophi and as she was crying, her angry face and worry disappeared a little, she felt sorry for her as it perhaps was something she thought she could handle alone, but being alone in a forest like this was possibly scary for a little girl. Maybe she was even scared of the dark and Phoebe let the torch be close to her, "Oh Sophi," she said softly and she shook her head a little but she smiled assuring, the child had been punished enough.

She would let Victor carry Sophi to make sure Phoebe wouldn't drop because normally she would never walk on heels in a forest, but she was doing fine at the moment, as long as she stayed focused. Phoebe talked to Reign about their small adventure, leaving out the part that she went missing as she had the feeling that Sophi didn't feel like telling that herself. She heard her command and turned around to look and couldn't help but smile and shake her head again, though perhaps, she would have liked to do that herself as well. But she would just accept the jewels and say goodbye to Sophi when it was her turn.

She would leave at the same time as Victor and tell him again it was very pleasant to meet him before she would go and find the inn back where she was staying, maybe she would see him again if she stayed in Hargeon.